PELHAM, N.H. — Former Vietnam POW and U.S. Sen. John McCain tells the Herald he’ll call a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee if accused Army deserter Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is allowed to avoid prison — a potential power play Bergdahl’s attorney calls “unlawful” and “deeply disturbing.”

“If it comes out that he has no punishment, we’re going to have to have a hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee,” said McCain, who chairs the committee. “And I am not prejudging, OK, but it is well known that in the searches for Bergdahl, after — we know now — he deserted, there are allegations that some American soldiers were killed or wounded, or at the very least put their lives in danger, searching for what is clearly a deserter. We need to have a hearing on that.”

Should that happen, Bergdahl’s attorney Eugene R. Fidell promised last night his defense team will launch an investigation of its own into McCain’s actions.

“Sen. McCain’s comments are deeply disturbing and constitute unlawful congressional influence in a sensitive pending military justice matter,” Fidell said. “This is particularly troubling because he is chairman of the committee that confirms all military promotions, as well as all nominations to the highest uniformed and civilian positions in the Army.

“If the case against Sgt. Bergdahl is referred to a court-martial, we will have to pursue the matter closely,” he said.

McCain, speaking at South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham’s campaign event, acknowledged that he doesn’t like the idea of Bergdahl escaping jail time, but he added, “Let me just say, we need to review the system of justice and get assessment of it before I condemn it.”

Bergdahl, 29, was captured by the Taliban in 2009 and held hostage for five years after, military prosecutors charge, he walked away from his post in Afghanistan. He returned home to the states last year after President Obama traded five high-ranking Taliban commanders detained at Guantanamo Bay for his freedom.

The prisoner swap has been denounced by both Republicans and Democrats who say it runs counter to U.S. policy. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said Thursday that Bergdahl should have been executed for leaving his post in Afghanistan and called him a “no-good traitor.”

Military prosecutors charged Bergdahl in March with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, a charge that could carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. But the preliminary hearing officer on the case, Army Lt. Col. Mark A. Visger, last week recommended the charges be referred to a special court-martial and that Bergdahl receive no jail time.

Gen. Robert Abrams, the commanding general of U.S. Army Forces Command, will ultimately decide whether the case should be referred to a court-martial. No timeline has been given for a decision from Abrams.

Fidell said the defense has asked that the charges “be disposed of not by court-martial, but by nonjudicial punishment” — such as loss of rank, a drop in pay, extra work, etc. He has also urged Visger to make his report public.